Graphic Design BA(Hons)

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Portfolio advice 

Admission to this course involves reviewing your portfolio. After you apply, we will ask you to share a link to an online portfolio of your work. This enables us to see your potential and understand your approach and motivations.

We will ask you to log on to Student View to share your portfolio link. We will not be able to progress your application to Brighton until you share your portfolio.

• Find out about the specific requirements for your course.

Creating your portfolio
We’ve put together advice and guidance to help you create and share your portfolio and we run regular online portfolio advice sessions where you can get help from our expert team.

Top reasons to choose this course

• Study all aspects of design – including typography and language, type design, editorial design, publishing, narrative and storytelling, information and visualisation, symbolism and imagery, navigation and wayfinding, visual identity, moving image, writing and performance.
• Excellent career progression – our students go on to diverse roles across the creative industries, whether making a difference in agencies or establishing their own brands.
• Success of our graduates – our alumni are at organisations including The Royal Opera House, A Small Axe, Anyways Creative, The Tate and many more high-profile institutions.
• Establish professional connections – throughout the course you can regularly connect with industry practitioners. 
• Optional placement year – gives you the chance to make industry connections and gain valuable experience.

• International exchanges – there are exchange opportunities with Nagoya University of the Arts in Nagoya, Japan; Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore; SRH University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, Germany; and Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) in the United States.
• Engaging audiences with your work – we’ll teach you how to promote and share your work.
• Collaborative working – just like in industry, you will connect with students from the visual communication programme in the Global Challenges modules, developing contacts for when you graduate.
• Major graduate show – at the end of the degree you will exhibit a body of work in the public graduate show, a large-scale exhibition.

Follow our course on Instagram at Graphic Design Brighton @uob_graphicdesign

Year 1

Year 1 introduces you to the key concepts of visual communication in graphic design. Through a series of studio-based projects and workshops in computing, letterpress, photography and book arts, you will begin to develop your own visual language.

Modules

• Introduction to Graphic Design

  This module provides an introduction to the key concepts and practices of graphic design. You will look at the history, cultural contexts, approaches, practices and techniques that inform graphic design and explore creativity and design approaches through experimentation. You will also critically reflect on your practice through guided and independent study.

• Cultural Contexts in Graphic Design

  This module introduces the key historical and contemporary texts and debates that have shaped the field of graphic design. You will be introduced to analytical and research-based academic study skills so you can source, critically evaluate and communicate these research findings. You will also learn to develop connections between theoretical concepts and graphic design to underpin your design/studio practice. 

• Graphic Design: Media and Messages

  During this module you will respond to set project briefs which explore graphic design and its role in communicating messages and meaning. You will examine and analyse contemporary and historical design practices to help inform visual ideas and concepts. Through the design process, you’ll apply these by experimenting with a range of media, techniques and technologies to produce final designed outcomes. 

• Contemporary Contexts in Graphic Design

  In this module you will explore the crucial role that graphic design has in contemporary social and political contexts. Using focused analysis you will critically reflect on the ongoing social and political ideas and issues that are impacting the field of graphic design today. You will also develop research and writing skills to build your confidence in communicating ideas clearly. 

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Year 2

Year 2 develops your knowledge of the more advanced concepts of communication with a focus on self-initiated, collaborative, experimental and independent ways of working.

You will begin to explore the creative industries via a personal and professional development programme. In years 2 and 3 you will attend professional practice lectures by guest speakers working within the industry.

Modules

• Graphic Design: Modes of Communication

  This module encourages you to examine the relationship between graphic design and technology. You will develop a deeper understanding of conventions, tools and wider contexts around the evolving nature of graphic design practice. Focusing on experimentation and refining specialist graphic design skills, you will expand your knowledge of design theories and concepts. 

• Global Challenges – Visual Communication

  In this module, you will explore how visual communication can influence social, cultural, political and economic views and behaviours. You will consider how creative practice can be an impactful, change-making tool for communicating and highlighting challenges including equality and inclusivity, creative and sustainable economies, wellbeing and climate change.

• Graphic Design: Audiences and Contexts

  During this module you will focus on designing for diverse and local/global audiences across evolving platforms. You will examine how audience and context shape meaning and the importance of tailoring strategies for varied groups. You’ll refine your skills, deepen your contemporary graphic design knowledge and experiment with tools and media to develop a unified visual approach. You will also reflect critically on your practice in relation to wider contexts. 

• Ethical and Personal Responsibilities in Graphic Design

  This module asks you to consider professional practice within graphic design and your relationship to it. Whether your aspirations are entrepreneurial, vocational or academic, you will identify how your practice is framed by contemporary debates and issues that are informing graphic design practices today. You will consider your own personal and ethical views in relation to graphic design, developing the skills to be an informed and engaged global citizen. 

Placement year

Gain valuable experience and earn money during an optional placement year following year 2. You’ll return to the final year of your degree with added confidence, additional real-world experience and valuable contacts. 

A placement year gives you the chance to work with established professionals in design studios, galleries, film sets, music labels, creative agencies, newsrooms and many other environments. You’ll be able to get an insight into creative workflows and come away with a portfolio filled with real-world projects that will stand out in a competitive job market.  

It can also help you discover your creative direction and passion for a particular area of work, helping you grow artistically as well as professionally.   

Our dedicated Placements and Employability team will support you in getting a placement that suits your interests and career goals by helping you with your CV and cover letter writing, applications, online testing and more. Plus, they’ll provide support and guidance when you’re on placement and make sure that everything is going well. 

Final year

In year 3 you build upon the creative and analytical abilities you have developed. Teaching encourages greater personal development as you move towards a more self-directed programme of study. You will work on a series of briefs leading towards a longer independent graphic design research project.

Modules

• Independent Graphic Design Practice

  This module will help you refine your graphic design skills through independent work on diverse briefs, including design for good, editorial and cultural design. You will focus on a systematic design process, tailored to specific audiences and professional goals, with an emphasis on research, conceptual strategies and advanced studio practice. 

• Critical Graphic Design Research Project

  You will work with increased independence during this module, expanding and refining your understanding of graphic design in relation to the current debates, theories and practices. You’ll identify a subject area of interest that informs and/or influences your practice and develop and present a focused line of enquiry into that chosen topic. You will have a choice of assessment formats, each with its own set of requirements to complete. 

• Graphic Design: Major Project

  You will work independently to create a strategic plan for a major graphic design project, applying advanced design methods, research and critical decision-making. The project will focus on creativity, professional standards and ethical considerations. You will develop skills for industry or further study, with an emphasis on autonomy, personal responsiblity, audience awareness and professional practice for career readiness. 

• Graphic Design: Professional Practice

  This module will prepare you for working in the graphic design industry or for further study. You will put together a professional portfolio that highlights your unique strengths, specialisms and personal approaches to graphic design practice. You’ll also develop autonomy, critical thinking and professional judgment by formulating a career plan aligned with industry trends, ethical considerations and contemporary graphic design practices.

Facilities

• Dedicated design studios.
• The TECH HUB – a team of technical demonstrators who provide specialist creative software support including:
• Adobe CC (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects etc), Rhino, Blender and C4D, as well as web and blog-related software.
• Digital manufacturing services including laser cutting, 3D printing, CNC routing, plasma cutting and 3-axis CNC milling.
• VR headsets and 3D scanners.
• PC suite with all of the software they support as well as standard university programmes.

• Book arts and letterpress workshops, each with dedicated technicians on hand to help you. 
• Letterpress workshop (dedicated technician).
• Computing facilities specific to the needs of designers and illustrators.
• We have one of the country’s best-stocked art and design libraries.
• Internationally important Design Archives with a wealth of graphic design and illustration material.

Meet the team

Eloise Parrack, course leader

Eloise has extensive teaching experience across higher education and is a Fellow of Advance HE. As course leader she works to ensure students have an excellent education in the area of graphic design, leading and overseeing the development of the Graphic Design BA(Hons) curriculum with her colleagues in the department of visual communication. Alongside a focus on type and language, her aim is to nurture connections between graphic design, wider communities and issues within society, establishing meaningful and critical tools with which to explore, interrogate and visually communicate to a range of audiences. Read Eloise’s full profile.

Other staff who teach on the course have a diverse range of graphic design-related professional, academic and research-led practice.

At Brighton we build on a rich heritage of traditional design, embracing process-led research and new tools and technologies through which to radically interpret transform, develop and communicate ideas. 

This is not solely as individual designers, but as informed citizens in an international community, engaging with the personal and political.

Eloise, course leader 

Summer shows 2024

Course fees

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

• Brighton Boost – cost of living help for our new undergrad students. Find out about how we can help with your study, accommodation or travel costs and more...
• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• Read our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf) for more on University of Brighton tuition fees.

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